thorium?

[Treetop]

Im not sure thorium qualifies as "other bullion metal" but... the post is geared towards seeing what everyone thinks about thorium investing....

I should probably not be lazy and dig up a link on thorium, but basically it is something like three times more abundant then uranium. It can be used as effectively for power generation as uranium, except its potentially cheaper to do, because you need to process uranium a lot to be able to use it. thorium is used as is. with uranium energy production you have 10k plus years of material to store. with thorium there is a small fraction of uraniums wastes, and its safe within 500 years. the big deal is there is NO chance of a meltdown, or for that matter wastes able to be made into bombs. Also since it doesnt need all the extra safety uranium plants need it is potentially cheaper and faster to build on that end as well.

As I understand it, no major thorium power plants have been built, but many are in the works. honestly i have to say I MUCH prefer other alternate energy generation and research, but Id much rather have thorium then uranium.

so does anyone have any thoughts on it from an investment perspective? the world needs new energy sources, not only because fossil fuel prices going up, but just growing desire to use it in general. (not that we always get what we want) thorium energy seems kinda like a hidden wild card to me. I certainly wouldnt bet the farm on it, but I could easily see some thorium investment out there making some people rich.. (a miner? a company looking to build a plant?)

[rexmerdinus]

My only experience with Thorium is from when I used to play World of Warcraft!

[Engineer]

One of the best things about thorium reactors is their ability to burn the leftovers from the uranium reactors. Get a couple up and running, and we won't need to store that stuff in Yucca Mountain or elsewhere for the next 10K years.

IMHO, the reason the world didn't go with thorium reactors in the first place was the fact that they don't breed plutonium (which we needed for the cold war arms race).

[inflationhawk]

Thogium?

[Heartkill]

My only experience with Thorium is from when I used to play World of Warcraft!

This is the first thought that popped in my mind.

[Treetop]

So I guess this means there is little interest in this for investing?

I guess that could either be a good sign or a bad one depending on how you take it.

[rexmerdinus]

I did a little research and found some discussions from a few years ago, but nothing current.

[Cu Penny Hoarder]

Any fractional thorium rounds available?

[Lemon Thrower]

are you asking whether its a good investment now or whether our government should back more reaserch and development.

there aren't any commercial scale thorium reactors online today and there are plans for only a handful at most.

[IdahoCopper]

See:
http://wardsauto.com/ar/thorium_power_car_110811
http://www.geekosystem.com/thorium-powered-car/
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20 ... ur-future/

[Dr. Cadmium]

Treetop: If something is currently abundant and in low demand, it's not a good investment unless you expect rapid growth in demand.* While world energy demand is growing fast, it would have to be much larger before we build a thorium reactor for every large city. There are major barriers to widespread use of nuclear reactors, regardless of what they use for fuel.

Holding thorium in physical form is impractical. Mining, nuclear, energy and certain technology stocks would probably be the best way to invest in thorium.


*It could be a good 20-30 year plan. But that also goes for almost any other material.

[IdahoCopper]

Looks like we are nearly ready to go to war with Iran.

You want the simple answer to prevent it and the trillions of wasted FRNs?

The US offers Iran $25 billion, hell make it $50B, to develop thorium reactors on the condition they turn over all their uranium enrichment equipment.

Problem Solved!

[Treetop]

thats a good point there idaho... with thorium reactors we have no worries over nuclear proliferation...

dr. cadmium, i wasnt really thinking of holding thorium, I was thinking of catching whatever train eventually makes a go at this... Uranium is less popular then ever... fossil fuels are going up in price, and if your willing to pay we have expensive options for personal use, but no marketable large scale options... (although I still prefer to pay more, but most dont agree) So id think there is huge potential for thorium...

[rexmerdinus]

Nice idea Idaho, but until Haliburton gets ahold of massive thorium-bearing sand reserves, such a pragmatic solution will never pass muster with TPTB